Does US Freedom Corps legislation threaten the integrity of the Peace Corps?

Background

From its inception there has been a strict prohibition of the Peace Corps being used for intelligence gathering by the US government. As Gerald Rice stated in his book The Great Experiment about the early history of the Peace Corps:

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Not a single case of CIA infiltration of the Peace Corps, or use of CIA resources by the Peace Corps, has ever been substantiated. No investigation - including the thorough search in 1976 of Senator Frank Church's Select Committee to Study Government Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities - has turned up the slightest evidence of use of the Peace Corps as an arm of US intelligence. Shriver knew that any such association would destroy the Peace Corps' credibility. Hence he took the strictest precautions. Most important, he was assured by the President that the CIA would not attempt to infiltrate the Peace Corps and would not enlist former Volunteers until at least ten years after their Peace Corps service. Kennedy personally relayed this message to Allen Dulles and John McCone, the two CIA directors of the period. This understanding on the inviolability of the Peace Corps was referred to in Peace Corps circles as 'The Treaty.'"

This is not an academic discussion. Lives of volunteers are at risk. In testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on July 17, 1996, Senator Paul Coverdell testified about the independence of the Peace Corps during his tenure as Peace Corps Director in the following terms:

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[The Peace Corps]...should not be used for intelligence. It is dangerous for volunteers to be in the context of the CIA. The former CIA was not allowed to use them. I was director of the Peace Corps during the Bush administration. We entered Eastern Europe. Solidarity asked, Are the volunteers CIA? It would raise doubts across the entire Corps. It would put the volunteers at risk. We lost a volunteer in Bolivia because they said he was DEA. We need to ratify an exemption for the safety of the Corps. It should be a separate facility.

Now with the implementation of the US Freedom Corps, there is concern that the language in the draft Executive Order for the creation of the USA Freedom Corps threatens the integrity of the US Peace Corps.

Please read and comment on the following op-ed piece by an RPCV that discusses his interpretation of the draft Executive Order creating the USA Freedom Corps, it's threat to the fundamental purpose of the Peace Corps, and what rpcvs need to do to ensure the integrity of the Peace Corps:

Many RPCVs are now aware of a "New Mandate" being proposed in Washington. RPCVs Roger Landrum and Dave Hibbard have been in touch with Senator Dodd's staff and are in the process of getting legislation drafted that would include more grassroots-style activities and organizations, including the NPCA, under the aegis of implementation of Peace Corps goals.

Many are not aware, however, of new developments which could threaten the fundamental purpose of Peace Corps, which is to promote peace and friendship around the world.

While Peace Corps has had a general prohibition on hiring of individuals who have had a known involvement in intelligence activities, the Peace Corps Act does not specifically preclude "intelligence information" from being routed from one agency to the next. With the implementation of the USA Freedom Corps, a mechanism will exist to do exactly that.

Section 3(f)(iii) of the draft Executive Order for the creation of the USA Freedom Corps reads as follows:

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"Upon the request of the Chair, and to the extent permitted by law, the heads of executive branch departments and agencies shall provide the Council with relevant information."

In this case, the Chair is the President of the United States, and the members of the Council include the Attorney General, the Director of the U.S. Peace Corps, and other executive branch heads.

This would not provide an overly serious problem for Peace Corps, were it not for Section 908(a) of the USA Patriot Act. This section of the USA Patriot Act states the following:

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"The Attorney General shall, in consultation with the Director of Central Intelligence, carry out a program to provide appropriate training to... officials of the Federal Government who are not ordinarily engaged in the collection, dissemination, and use of foreign intelligence in the performance of their duties, and officials of State and local governments who encounter or may encounter foreign intelligence in the performance of their duties, to assist such officials in identification and utilization of foreign intelligence information."

Clearly, this legislation provides a mechanism where, in combination with section 3(f)(iii) of the Executive Order ordering the creation of the USA Freedom Corps, intelligence information will be passed from Peace Corps to the Attorney General, and from there to the Central Intelligence Agency, by order of law.

In the President's 2003 Budget Initiatives for "Using 21st Century Technology to Secure the Homeland," an increase from zero dollars (2002) to 17 million dollars (2003) will be spent specifically to "assure _relevant information_ is conveyed to State and local officials" for defense purposes. This same language is seen in Section 3(f)(iii) of the USA Freedom Corps Executive Order: "...the heads of executive branch departments and agencies shall provide the Council with _relevant information._"

Is foreign intelligence information part of this "relevant information?" Regardless of the intent of the legislation and Executive Order, there is nothing to legally prevent "intelligence information" from falling into the category of "relevant information."

What is more disturbing is that even if this "relevant information" had nothing to do with intelligence-related info at all, the inclusion of the Attorney General in the USA Freedom Corps Council, of which the Director of Peace Corps is a member, provides a mechanism whereby Peace Corps could be used for intelligence purposes by other government agencies under section 908 of the USA Patriot Act.

A petition has been started to oppose the language of section 3(f)(iii) of the USA Freedom Corps Executive Order. You can link to it at: http://www.peacecorpsonline.org/

All RPCV comments are welcomed on this page. It is hoped that more RPCVs will forward their thoughts on what kind of legislation, if any, is needed to enhance and protect Peace Corps, and to create a unity of goals. To that end, the RPCVs working on the New Mandate Proposals have made a valiant and successful effort to have Senator Dodd's staff consider Peace Corps Independence language as part of the draft proposals. Now is the time to lend your thoughts and support to this ongoing dynamic discussion, so that your ideas can be considered along with others that are being included in draft legislation. Hope to hear from you soon!

(Link to: http://www.peacecorpsonline.org/ and follow the Peace Corps Independence links to leave your comment and Make It So!)

References:

The link to the draft Executive Order creating the US Freedom Corps is at:

We encourage rpcvs with legal training or who are familiar with the legislation governing the Peace Corps to research these references and see if they come to the same conclusions as the author of the op-ed piece.

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This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Special Reports; Speaking Out

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